Mesick has named some of his goats after characters in 'Game of Thrones.'

Rebecca Plevin
/ Valley Public Radio

Listen

Listening...

/

5:13

A new generation of farmers is challenging our idea of what it means to work in agriculture in the Central Valley. Two special Valley Edition reports examine who these modern farmers are, and how they're connecting with the burgeoning, nationwide interest in boutique culture.

In this audio postcard, 30-year-old Allen Mesick introduces us to Eureka Mohair Farm in Tollhouse, where he and his partner Randy Shumaker raise Angora goats for mohair.

In the summer, about 75 goats with soft, curly hair graze on the farm in the foothills.

Often times when we do displays at fairs, they say, ‘are they sheep?’ And we say, ‘no, they’re Angora goats.’ And they say, ‘oh, that’s where Angora comes from.’ ‘No, actually, Angora, in terms of wool, comes from the Angora rabbit, and it’s really soft. Mohair comes from the Angora goat.

Mesick’s goal is to raise goats that produce fine Mohair fleece. The softer the hair, the more valuable it is, he says.

In the 60s and 70s, mohair had its peak commercially. There’s an Elton John song, ‘Benny and the Jets,’ and one of the lyrics is, ‘mohair suit.’ At that time, mohair was trendy, beautiful and relatively inexpensive, but feed cost, gas and synthetic fibers have thus replaced these natural fibers. To find mohair suit at Macy’s, for example, might be rather difficult today… I wish everyone wore mohair because we’d all have a better business.

Mesick primarily sells his mohair on Etsy.com. He says customers around the world purchase his naturally colored mohair to spin it into yarn, or make doll hair. Clients, he says, like feeling a connection to the farm and animals.

People want to have a connection with where their food is coming from, and I think the same applies to what people are wearing. They want to know where it came from. They want to have a connection to the animal, with the farmer, the producer, and Etsy, small online shops, allow us to reach out and get these products to people who care about that. Sure, they’re paying more for it, but in the end, they’re really satisfied and they feel great about what they’re wearing and using.

Mesick says he considers himself a modern farmer. He says the farmers likely don’t accept him as a farmer, and city residents likely don’t consider him an urban dweller. As a modern farmer, he says, he’s used the Internet to connect with his own niche community.

I guess that’s another way of being modern. It’s finding something that’s rare, something that’s unique, and selling it and then making money off of it, or trying to make money off of it. I’m certainly not rich - by any means. But am I happy? Absolutely. Am I making a little money? Absolutely. Am I sharing my life with the animals that are a big part of who I am? Certainly.

Related Content

It’s not just farmers who are taking part in this new trend that is reshaping agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley. It’s also consumers. From pop-up “farm to fork” meals to acclaimed local chefs perusing the goods at a rapidly increasing number of local farmers markets, our relationships, our food and those who grow it are changing. And even in an area where fast food and chain restaurants are king, eating local is proving to be more than just a trend for many Valley residents. --- Chris...

Amber Balakian grew up on a farm in Reedley . Her family grows 80 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, plus a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. But it took her attending Harvard University’s Extension School to realize that her family’s business was pretty cool. She returned to the 20-acre farm after she earned her master’s degree in 2009. “My main goal coming back and working here was to make things more efficient,” Balakian says. “I just didn’t know how. One of the main things – we were...

This week on Valley Edition we take a look at what we are calling "Alt. Farmers." In a region where big agriculture is big business, a new generation of farmers is challenging our notion of what life on the farm is all about. These socially conscious, technology savvy boutique growers and ranchers are going beyond organic to embrace the latest trends in food and popular culture. They’re not just small farmers, they’re diversified entrepreneurs and clever marketers who are doing their part to...

A new crop forecast from the USDA and the California Department of Food and Agriculture indicates this year's raisin crop could be as much as 25 percent larger than last year's. It's expected to be the largest raisin crop since 2008, at 2.4 million tons. Last year's crop was just over 1.9 million tons. Over 200,000 acres of raisin grapes are in production this year. Officials say that warm weather has been good for crop development, which is a few days ahead of normal.

As the supply chain that delivers our food to us gets longer and more complicated, many consumers want to understand — and control — where their food comes from. But even if we meet farmers at the farmers market , urban consumers are still largely divorced from the people who grow, pick and package our food. And we may even willfully ignore their suffering, argues Seth Holmes , a medical anthropologist and professor of health and social behavior at the University of California, Berkeley, in...

Kerman farmer Paul Betancourt says it's time to Californians to abandon that idea that a healthy environment and a healthy agriculture economy can't co-exist. His new book "Ten Reasons: Finding Balance on Environmental Issues" seeks to find solutions that are both economically practical and environmentally beneficial. Betancourt, a Southern California native who has farmed in the San Joaquin Valley for over 30 years, says that consumers need to have a better appreciation of the challenges...